Taupo Round 5

Heading to Taupo I was quietly
confident we had good car speed after such a positive test the previous
Wednesday but still apprehensive that like the Timaru track, Taupo is known as a
Ford hunting ground due to the much more favourable gearbox ratios.

Qualifying: The track was really cold which meant it was hard to get
heat into the tyres. I slowly started to get quicker each lap finally setting my
fastest lap on the last lap before the chequered flag came out. I did the best I
could putting the Brother/Placemakers Holden in P3. We were the only Holden in
the top 8, so I was pretty happy to be at the pointy end of the field.

Race 1: Starting from grid 3, I got a good start but couldn't
manage to take advantage of it as the gaps in front of me closed fairly quickly.
I settled into P3 and then set about making my way to the front. I had good race
pace and was putting a lot of pressure on Buzz, on lap 4 Buzz made a bit of a
mistake going through the very quick A1 corner and I was all over him to take
advantage of this to put me in 2nd place. With 2 laps remaining I
chased down the Australian Kris Walton and on the last lap once again around the
very fast A1 corner Walton managed to go to wide and spin the Ute on the marbles
collecting on the outside of the track. I couldn't believe what had just
happened, which put me in the lead with only a handful of corners remaining and
comfortably took the chequered flag for the win.

Marble Draw: I drew
grid 10.

Race 2: I had a terrible start and managed to lose a couple of
places, but from then on I was only moving forward. I slowly cut my way through
the field eventually making it up to 3rd position at the chequered
flag.

Reverse Marble Draw: Grid 4.

Race 3: From the outside of the
track it's hard not to get pushed out wide off the start which is what happened
to me which dropped me back to 5th. I then settled down and managed
to pick a couple off, a few laps later I was in a battle for 2nd with
Matt Lockwood who is a former NZ V8 Ute & V8 Challenge Cup Champion. We had
good pace and I was just putting the move on him for 2nd when the red
flag came out because of a huge incident back down the field. This meant we had
to settle for 3rd place.

Race 4: This race is based on points accumulated from over the weekend.
This meant I was starting from P2 with Kris Walton on P1. I got a good start but
so did Walton, I managed to hold 2nd which is where I stayed for the
entire race with the Ford of Walton having too much pace to be able to make a
move on him for the lead.

Finishing 2nd for weekend meant we
extended our championship lead, and moved one step closer to the ultimate goal,
claiming the NZ V8 Ute Championship, but with two rounds or eight races still to
go there is plenty of time for the highs and lows of motorsport to play out.